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Learn / Fundamentals / Valuation / P/S Ratio

Price-to-Sales Ratio

P/S = Share Price ÷ Revenue Per Share

This number tells you how many dollars you pay for each dollar of company sales. When there is no profit yet, sales still give you a price tag to work with.

01 Feel it first

When there is no profit yet

Start with a money-losing company — P/E goes blank. Hit "Use sales instead," then tap a business-type button to set how much of each sales dollar becomes profit.

P/E ratio
N/A

02 Break the intuition

A low P/S is always cheap

A grocer at 0.4× sales vs software at 10× can be a similar deal if profit margins differ enough. Peel the cards to see why.

GROCER
0.4×
P/S · thin margins
Net margin~2%
Implied P/E~20×
Not automatically cheap
SOFTWARE
10×
P/S · fat margins
Net margin~25%
Implied P/E~40×
Priced for profits
Margins (profit ÷ sales) decide everything. A grocer at 0.4× sales with a ~2% net margin implies ~20× earnings. Software at 10× sales with a ~25% margin implies ~40× — or less if margins are higher. Low P/S without margin context is not a bargain.

03 Scrub the scale

Same P/S, different story

Drag the P/S needle. The multiple alone does not tell you if a stock is cheap. Margins decide how much of each sales dollar becomes profit.

P/S
5.0×
Rich
5.0×
0.2×15.0×

At 5× sales, a 20% margin implies ~25× earnings. At 3% margin the same P/S implies ~167×. Always pair P/S with how much profit the business keeps.

04 Sort them out

Cheap on sales, or a trap?

Loss-makers still carry a P/S. Sort each card by whether the sales multiple looks reasonable once you know the margin story.

Tap a card, then sort into Could be cheap or Likely overpriced.

0 / 4 correct

Tap a card, then tap a bucket.

05 Two flavors

Trailing vs forward sales

Same price, different sales number on the bottom of the fraction.

Uses the last 12 months of reported sales. Hard number, but lagging if the company is growing fast or just lost a big customer.

06 The catch

Typical P/S by industry

Grocery chains live at low multiples; software lives at high ones. Compare peers, not the whole market.

Grocery
0.4×
Retail
0.8×
Industrials
1.5×
Healthcare
3.5×
Software
8×+

Sample sector averages. Live sector numbers available on Amsflow.

07 Check yourself

Five quick checks

Question 1 of 5
Quick checkPrice is $50 and sales per share are $10. P/S is:
5× is right. P/S = price ÷ sales per share = 50 ÷ 10 = 5.

08 Where it breaks

When P/S misleads you

Shaky sales quality

One-time sales, customers who do not stick around, or aggressive accounting can inflate the sales number without lasting cash.

Stuffing the channel

Pushing product into warehouses juicing near-term sales. P/S looks cheaper right before the hangover.

Thin-profit businesses

A rock-bottom P/S on a 1% margin business can still be an expensive earnings multiple.

Ignores company debt

P/S only looks at the stock price (equity = owners' claim). If peers carry very different debt loads, compare enterprise-value-to-sales instead — you inherit the debt.

Look up a live P/S.

See trailing and forward sales multiples next to margins and peers — then screen for names priced on revenue, not hope alone.